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Alvin Sallay

Well-travelled Ashley aims for happy 'homecoming' as his team push for place in plate

It will be a homecoming of sorts for Japan centre Nathan Ashley when he runs out today against Fiji in their opening Pool C encounter.

The last time Ashley appeared at the Hong Kong Stadium, it was in the colours of Hong Kong - at the 1998 Hong Kong Sevens.

'It is great to be back again and this time in a World Cup too,' smiled Ashley. 'All of us are excited to be playing at the World Cup. It has always been a big goal of mine.'

The Australian-born centre, who used to play alongside Hong Kong veteran Chris Gordon for Northern Suburbs in Sydney and then at Hong Kong Football Club, will be a key figure as Japan bid to reach the plate competition.

'Our goal is the plate,' said Japan coach Kazuhiko Honjo. 'Although we would love to emulate Korea and enter the cup competition as they did in 1997, we have to be realistic as we are in a very tough pool with seeds Fiji and Australia the favourites.'

Having already appeared for Hong Kong in an international tournament, Ashley had to get special permission from the International Rugby Board to play at this World Cup.

Last year he failed to get clearance in time for the Hong Kong Sevens and missed out. But it has been worth the wait.

'I have been in Japan for the past five years. After playing one season in Hong Kong in 1998, I went to the UK before returning home to Sydney in 2000. It was then that I got the opportunity to move to Japan and I have been there since. I like it a lot,' said Ashley who turns out for IBM in the competitive Japanese corporate Top League.

Apart from Ashley, Fijian Kilive Naloli and Tongan Katoni Otukolo are the other two overseas-born players in the 12-man squad. One more foreigner, New Zealander Hare Makiri, is a back-up in case of injury.

Japan beat Ireland in the bowl final at the inaugural World Cup Sevens in 1993. In 1997, they lost the bowl final to the United States. Then four years ago, they entered the plate before losing to Wales in the quarter-finals. The aim now is to go one step further.

'It will be tough for us, we are in a very hard pool,' Honjo said. 'We have also had very little preparation as the main emphasis back home is on XVs rugby. But luckily, most of these players have been around for some time and it is a fairly well-settled team, even if we lack a bit of match practice.'

Honjo, who has been coach of the sevens squad for three seasons, picked his final 12 after a training trip to Korea where they played a number of selection trials against their Asian rivals.

'I took a squad of 20 to Korea in February and after that visit we cut the squad down to 12. Apart from that, our only competitive games were at the Wellington Sevens last month. We wanted to go to Los Angeles too, but that did not work out,' added Honjo.

Despite the limited build-up, Japan will be a side to watch and a threat to Hong Kong. And Ashley will be a useful fount of information on the strengths of SAR rugby, although only two players - Paul Dingley and Nigel D'Acre - remain from the class of '98.

'In the past we used to win against Hong Kong, but it will be different this time. I know Hong Kong have been preparing for a long time and, playing in front of their home crowd, they will be a danger. We have to be serious about every team in our pool,' said Honjo.

Captained by sevens veteran Tomohiro Yamaguchi, Japan boast seven players - including Naloli and Otukolo - who figured at last year's Hong Kong Sevens in which they lost 31-19 to the Cook Islands in the bowl final.

Only two members of this team have played at a previous World Cup Sevens: winger Ryohei Miki, who is easy to spot with his 'pineapple' hairdo, and scrum-half Kiyonori Tanaka.

Both appeared at the 2001 event in Argentina. But Hirotoki Onozawa has also been to a XVs World Cup, the 2003 edition in Australia.

However, it is Ashley's first taste of a World Cup. And he will be hoping to spark things up for his adopted country and make it an extra-special 'homecoming'.

Team: 1. Tomohiro Yamaguchi, 2. Kilive Naloli, 3. Katoni Otukolo, 4. Takashi Kikutani, 5. Eiji Yamamoto, 6. Kiyonori Tanaka, 7. Nathan Ashley, 8. Yusuke Kobuki, 9. Ryohei Miki, 10. Go Aruga, 11. Hirotoki Onozawa, 12. Yohei Shinomiya.

WC flashback: 1993 - bowl champions; 1997 - bowl runners-up; 2001 - plate quarter-finals.

Player to watch: Ryohei Miki.

Numbers: 125,917 registered players.

Prediction: Plate.

Japan

7 Facts

1 Favourites to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup XVs

2 Approximately 85 per cent of Japanese have never tasted turkey

3 Every March 15, the town of Komaki hosts the world's largest phallus festival

4 The average worker takes only half of their holiday entitlement each year

5 There is one vending machine for every 23 people

6 In 1973 there was widespread rioting after rumours that toilet paper supplies were dwindling

7 Gave the world: karaoke



Former HK man targets hosts